The Valentine Camaraderie
by Hadescantsmile244
Summary: A 10 year old Naruto reflects on his lonely Valentine's Day experiences. Sasuke steps into the picture. AU


**A/N: Hello, Hades here :) I'm not entirely new to FF but definitely to actually posting something on here (sweatdrops), so please enjoy this fic I wrote for my friend~**

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*bop* something just hit him on the head from behind. Naruto looked up from his school workbook, disgruntled. He glanced at the scrunched up piece of paper behind him, frowned, and turned back to his hardly distinguishable chicken scrawl. "Alright, class." Iruka's voice projected from the front of the classroom, "Since today is Valentine's Day, homework is to write a paragraph about your best Valentine's Day experience! Oh, and don't forget to revise." A chorus of "Yes, sensei!" could be heard in response.

Naruto slowly put down his pencil and mumbled a meek, "Yes…Sensei." Around him, the other 10 year olds excitedly chattered to their friends as they filed out of the room. Notably alone and alienated, Naruto quietly packed his belongings into an old and obviously well-used green satchel he had affectionately named Gama-chan.

Inwardly, he cringed at the thought of his homework task. Like most of the other days of the year, Naruto spent Valentine's Day alone. He looked at the different groups of friends longingly, his blue eyes reflecting his inner desire for company. Contemplative but determined not to be saddened; he slung his satchel over his shoulder and cheerfully yelled out a "Thanks Iruka-sensei!" as he ran out the room.

From the corner of the classroom, obsidian eyes followed the retreating figure with mild interest.

-page break-

Half-jogging and half-running, Naruto thought about going to Ichiraku's Ramen for an afternoon snack before heading home. _Maybe I should ask the old man about his Valentine's Day experiences. _Turning the corner of the school hallway, Naruto skidded to a stop as a group of his classmates walked together in a row, effectively clogging the corridor. One of them must have noticed his presence as Naruto was greeted with, "Well, if it isn't the class dunce. How does it feel to be the most worstest boy in class?" The one that spoke began to saunter over to Naruto in a threatening manner while the other boys just stayed behind to watch.

Naruto recognized the boy as the one who threw the paper ball at his head earlier and started to head in the opposite direction. But before he managed to slip away, the bully had grabbed onto one of the straps of his satchels, preventing Naruto from escaping, "What's your answer **idiot**?"

Naruto remained silent; he hated confrontations such as this one. Unfortunately for him, this happened way too often for his liking. Unsatisfied with the lack of response, the bully, pulled the strap now facing Naruto and leaned closer and repeated his question, "**What's. your. answer?**"

Naruto flinched as the onslaught of the other boy's bad breath hit him like a freight train. What the heck did he eat for lunch? A roasted garlic, onion, tuna, durian and soya sauce smoothie? Naruto just wanted to go to eat at Ichiraku, go home, and have a bath and sleep.

Fed up with the prolonged run-in with the class bully, Naruto snappily replied, "Worstest isn't even a word." Confused, the bully snarled, "What?" Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes, "You called me the worstest boy in the class...and worstest isn't a word. How does it feel like to be corrected by the dumbest kid around?" Now officially intellectually provoked, the bully hissed in anger (and partial humiliation) and raised his fist to hit flesh. "YOU CALLING ME STUPID?"

Azure eyes widened, of all the bullies he's faced, none resorted to physical violence. Naruto clenched his eyes shut, squared his shoulders and waited for the impact. The fist came flying towards his face and hit him on the left cheek with a resounding _thwack_. Naruto's head snapped backwards and his eyes snapped open and naturally started to water as a reaction to the pain.

Next he was shoved roughly on the shoulder. Stumbling backwards, he tripped and fell to the floor. The bully leered over him, showing no immediate signs of remorse for striking another student, "Aww...Naru-chan's a crybaby!" Eager to defend himself, Naruto shouted, "I'M NOT A CRYBABY." "Those tears sure coulda fooled me!" The bully raised his arm to punch again before he suddenly halted as a stern voice called out behind him, "What do you think you're doing?" Whipping his head to the interrupting intruder, the bully shouted, "MIND YOUR OWN BUSI- U-Uchiha-san!"

Standing there was the Uchiha Sasuke, the most popular kid in fifth grade. The youngest son of Uchiha Fugaku, founder or Uchiha Corp. and international business dealing in every single employment sector you could possibly imagine. And as you can guess, completely loaded. Absolutely rich. Not to mention, he was ridiculously good-looking...well for a fifth grader anyway.

This had him drawing prepubescent girls here, there and everywhere. Not that he socialized with any of them, his solidarity could almost be put on the same level as Naruto's except the main difference being that Sasuke was alone by choice, whereas Naruto was just ignored and scorned by his peers.

Sasuke condescendingly scanned the faces of the bully and his associates before scathingly saying, "Senseless violence is just a coward hiding behind his fists. They are the scum of our society and should feel ashamed." He stared at the main perpetrator, and coldly stated "And you. Those who break the rules of our ethical code are trash, but those who dare strike another human being and feel no guilt are even lower than trash." He ended his miniature lecture with his infamous glare, "Get out of my sight."

Meanwhile, on the floor, Naruto gaped up at Sasuke in shock and surprise. No one ever bothered standing up for him before. Then again, no one ever noticed he was getting bullied, his exuberant facade deceived even those closest to him. Sasuke finally seemed to look at Naruto before shifting uncomfortably and putting his hands into his pockets, "Are you hurt?" At the sound of his voice, Naruto snapped out of his momentary daze, quickly putting up his mask of joviality. Scratching his head, "Haha! I'm fine, as if his weak punches could hurt the great me!" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "So, it would be fine if I did this?"

Puzzled, Naruto scrunched up his eyebrows, "Did what?" Without warning, Sasuke crouched down and poked the bruising cheek. The reaction was immediate, Naruto howled, more at the unsuspecting jab than pain, clutching his cheek. Angrily gazing at Sasuke, Naruto flailed, "What did you do that for?!" "Hn. Just checking if you were lying...you were." Indignant, Naruto stopped his hand motions, "Hmph. Whatever."

"Are you ever going to get up from the ground?" "Of course I am!" And as if proving his point, Naruto jumped up to his feet, nearly head butting Sasuke in the chin. Naruto winced at the pain on his cheek before saying, "Um, thank you for your help. I'll be going now." Sasuke remained silent as Naruto walked away from him.

Before Naruto left his eyesight completely, Sasuke called out, "Wait." Naruto tilted his head, "Hmm?" "Come with me." "Ha?" "Your cheek is swollen and bruising. Come home with me, we have a first aid kit." Unsure of how to handle the situation, Naruto started to stammer, "U-uh well t-that's not necessary." Sasuke marched over to Naruto gripping his wrists, "It wasn't a request." and dragged a sputtering Naruto to the direction of his house.

-page break-

The walk to Sasuke's house was silent. In Naruto's opinion it was kind of awkward, but he didn't know if Sasuke was feeling the same way. Frustrated with the lack of noise, he said, "Um, thanks again for fending off the bullies back there." Sasuke looked at him from the corner of his eye, "Hn, it was a coincidence that I ran into that but what I said before still stands." "Oh yeah, all that stuff about trash and stuff. What's that about anyway?" "It's what every Uchiha learns as soon as they're able to understand it." "Huh?' "...It's an old traditional saying." 'That sounds awesome."

This time they drifted into a comfortable silence as they continued on the sidewalk. Naruto observed his surroundings with apt interest, he's never been in the wealthier side of town and walking to Sasuke's house (situated in the middle of the most affluent families in Konoha) was a new experience.

It was Sasuke who broke the monotony, "Why do you always pretend to be happy?" Stunned from the question and the realization that Sasuke could read so deeply into him, a feat previously accomplished by no one, Naruto treaded carefully, "I don't know what you're talking about." "The way you smile and act normal when everyone's looking and then frowning and looking solemn the moment you think no one is." "...I don't see why you would care." "Are you lonely?" "..." "It takes one to know one."

At this statement, Naruto growled and pointed accusingly, "That's a lie and you know it! You're always surrounded by people, you're offered so many hands of friendships, and you just throw it all away!"

"Those are the people who ignorant for who I am and instead look at what I represent. When they look at me, they don't see...me. They see an embodiment of my father, his wealth and believe that by getting on my good side, they'll become successful. My popularity is completely founded on a bunch of lies. I don't think I'll even inherit my father's company. No one's ever approached me without thinking of some sort of benefit they would get from being around me. The girls just want me for my looks and the boys just want to become more popular so that they can get girls. Not to mention that their parents probably told them to become friends with me so they can be associated with my family. Why would I even bother making friends when they'd turn their backs on me the minute someone handsomer, smarter and richer steps into the picture?! **Those kinds of people aren't worth befriending!**"

As Sasuke's rant continued, his voice rose higher and higher to the point he was almost shouting. Naruto was stunned for the second time today, he had no idea that people on the opposite side of the spectrum could feel lonely too. He had always thought that Uchiha Sasuke was just like the rest of the stuck up brats he's heard about. He couldn't have been more wrong. Good looks, intellect and wealth aside, Sasuke was just a lonely boy who wanted to have some real friends to rely on.

Unlike Naruto, Sasuke was constantly bombarded with hoards of people claiming to be worthy associates, how could he have possibly differentiated those with pure-hearted intentions from those without? No wonder he had such a cold personality...probably some sort of defense mechanism he developed growing up, Naruto mused. Naruto sympathized with Sasuke, true loneliness is standing in a room full of crowded people and still feeling lonely.

He waited until the other boy calmed down before saying, "I...guess you and I are more alike than we thought." "Hn." Oh, back to monosyllabic answers. The jerk probably used up his speech quota for the week. Naruto sniggered at that. "What's funny?" "Oh, nothing just thought of something humorous." Sasuke managed to look affronted and bewildered at the same time.

Naruto took this as a cue to keep talking, "Well, ever since I could remember, people have been treating me like I was some sort of disease. No ever approached me if they didn't need to, nor did they speak to me. When I was younger, I thought that there was something I had done that made everyone hate me, so I was on my best behavior for everything, apologized for everything and sincerely tried to make up for my mistakes. Obviously I learnt that this wasn't the case, and being on my best behavior didn't help my situation one bit...and I think I just came to the conclusion that I was really alone. This all happened before I met Old man Teuchi and Ayame from the Ramen shop of course, they were one of the first people I ever recall being nice to me, so I couldn't just act depressed all the time...so that's when I started to pretend. It was easier that way, I wouldn't burden them with my insecurities and all that right?"

Sasuke actually scoffed at this, "Figures that the first people you make friends with would be associated with Ramen." Naruto laughed casually, "They're not really friends since they're older than me bu-Hey! Ramen is the food of the gods!" "You keep telling yourself that, dobe." "You're deluding yourself if you think otherwise teme!" They both shared a chuckle.

Naruto felt the happiest he had ever been in ages. He was actually interacting with someone his own age who didn't scorn him...well...not in the way his other classmates did, sarcastic bantering was just part of Sasuke's personality...and Naruto could deal with that. He realized that he didn't want this to just be a one time thing.

He genuinely wanted to be friends with Sasuke. Before he could control himself he found himself blurting out, "You wanna be friends?" At the same time Sasuke said, "Would you be interested in becoming my associate?" The two stopped walking and bursted out laughing at the ridiculousness of asking practically the same question.

"Haha-ha, w-who calls their f-friends A-ASSOCIATES?" Naruto managed to get out through his fits of laughter. "Y-You're just jealous of my VOCABULARY." Sasuke responded with equal mirth. Naruto repressed his giggles and said, "I accept your offer." His cerulean eyes reflecting joy he felt inside. "As do I. Seal it with a handshake?" Sasuke offered his hand which Naruto eagerly grabbed and shook. And on the middle of the sidewalk, on Valentine's Day, Naruto forever etched this special moment into his memory.

After the consummation of their friendship, they made their way to Sasuke's house in jovial spirits bickering along the way. He met Sasuke's mother who enthusiastically patched him up and repeatedly called him a 'cutie pie'.

Naruto even stayed over for dinner that night and got to meet the rest of Sasuke's family. He learnt what an enigma Itachi was (who nonetheless was a good brother), the fatherly side of the usually stern Fugaku and even played tag with Sasuke and Itachi in the garden. Exhausted but nevertheless content, Naruto flopped onto his bed and soon fell asleep.

_Best Valentine's Day Experience:_

_Today, I made my very first friend._

_- Naruto Uzumaki_

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